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                                                                  2000 Bush-Gore Election



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      The 2000 presidential election was one of the most controversial in the nation's history. It was finally decided by the United States Supreme Court in its decision in Bush v. Gore upholding the election of the Republican ticket of George W. Bush and Richard Cheney over the Democratic slate of Albert Gore, Jr., and Joseph Lieberman. 

Campaigns for the Nomination
     
      Vice President Gore secured the Democratic nomination after first defeating his principal rival, New Jersey Senator Bill Bradley, in the Iowa caucuses; the New Hampshire primary election; and in all fifteen  states which held Democratic primaries on the "Super Tuesday" of March 7. Bradley then ended his campaign and endorsed Gore, who was unanimously nominated in August at the Democratic National Convention held in Los Angeles. Gore's choice of Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman as his vice presidential running mate, the first Jewish candidate ever selected to run on a major party's ticket, also was confirmed by voice vote of the Convention delegates. 

      George W. Bush, the governor of Texas and son of former President George H. W. Bush, won the Republican nomination over Senator John McCain of Arizona after a contentious series of primary elections, marked by a bitter contest in South Carolina in which McCain and his wife Cindy were the target of unsubstantiated personal attacks and rumors which the Bush campaign claimed came from those beyond its control.  Bush's win in South Carolina was followed by victories in nine of the thirteen Republican primaries on the "Super Tuesday" of March 7. Two days later, McCain folded his campaign, and reluctantly spoke at the Republican Convention in July in support of Bush's nomination. Bush selected former Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney, who at Bush's request had overseen investigations and interviews of prospective running mates,  as the vice presidential nominee.

General Election Campaign
      
       The general election campaign was perhaps most noted by the limited role played by incumbent President Clinton, whose popularity had declined in the wake of the impeachment proceedings relating to his relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The Lewinsky scandal had reportedly led to a rift in the Clinton-Gore friendship, and Gore's campaign largely avoided scheduling the President for appearances at events and in commercials. Gore held a lead in early polls, but lost some support by what some viewed as a patronizing attitude toward Bush, which at times was reflected during their three debates in an impatient expression on Gore's face as he listened to his opponent. Bush also stressed his intention to address issues of concern to minorities, women and others not previously the focus of Republican campaigns.

Election Returns and Recount      
     
      On election night, Gore initially phoned Bush to concede, but later rescinded his concession when it appeared that Florida was too close to call—and that victory in the Electoral College depended entirely on Florida. On the next morning, the outcome of the election remained uncertain with Florida's returns reporting Governor Bush ahead of Vice President Gore by about 1,800 votes.
         When the returns were so close,  Florida law provided that an automatic machine recount of ballots be conducted, which resulted in Bush maintaining a 327-vote lead out of almost six million ballots cast. Florida law also allowed Gore the option of "manual vote recounts" in the counties of his choosing, which he utilized to request  manual recounts in four counties with widespread complaints of voting machine malfunctions. But another provision of Florida's statutes required that the state's election results be certified by the Secretary of State, Katherine Harris, within seven days of the election (by November 14, 2000). Three of the four counties were unable to complete the manual recount process by the deadline.

Judicial Appeals  

      On November 21, the  Supreme Court of  Florida ruled that manual recounts could continue and that the totals must be included in the final results, and set November 26-27 as the deadline for certifying the election. After granting the Petition for a Writ of Certiorari filed by the Bush campaign, on December 4 the United States Supreme Court, in Bush v. Palm Beach County Canvassing Board, vacated the Florida Supreme Court decision and remanded the case for clarification by the Florida Supreme Court of the legal basis for its November 21 decision on recount deadlines. 

      In 4-3 split decision released on December 8, the Florida Supreme Court ruled for the Gore-Lieberman campaign, ordering a statewide manual recount of undervotes to begin and adding 383 votes to the Democratic total. The use of punch card ballots in Florida had led to uncertainty in some cases where ballots had been punched without completely detaching the paper indicating the voter's choice, thus leaving what was labeled as "hanging chads." Democrats also charged that the peculiar design of the ballot used in Palm Beach county confused voters, leading many to mistakenly vote for the independent candidate, Patrick J. Buchanan, a conservative populist and former aide to President Nixon, rather than for Gore and Lieberman. The Court directed that the recounts continue to ascertain whether a vote should be counted as a "legal" vote if there is a "clear indication of the intent of the voter." The Bush-Cheney campaign then sought stays of this decision before the Florida Supreme Court, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court and additionally petitioned for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court requesting that the Court exercise its discretionary authority to hear an appeal of the Florida decision.

Picture2000 Election Electoral Votes Image: Wikimedia Commons
       The U.S. Supreme Court granted the request to hear the case, and reversed the Florida Supreme Court order of December 8 in its decision in Bush v. Gore released December 12. In a 7 to 2 vote, the Court held that the Florida Supreme Court improperly established new standards for resolving presidential election contests, thereby violating Article II, section 1, clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution, and that the state Supreme Court's order directing manual recounts without specific standards on how to review the ballots violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. The Court further held, by a 5 to 4 majority, that federal election law specified a December 12 deadline for states to certify their winners, and that accordingly it was too late to allow any statewide recount remedy to proceed, even if the recount proceeded under the original standard.

      On December 18, the Electoral College met, casting 271 votes for Bush and Cheney and 266 votes for Gore and Lieberman. The final popular vote total was 50,996,582 votes for the Democratic ticket and 50,456,062 votes for the Republicans. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, running as the candidate of the Green Party, received 2,882,995 votes, and Patrick Buchanan received 448, 895 votes. Bush became the first candidate since Benjamin Harrison in 1888 to lose the popular vote and still be elected president. On January 6, with Vice President Gore presiding over a joint session of the Congress, the Electoral College votes were officially counted and Bush and Cheney were declared as the new president and vice president.  
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